*** FOR NEW GROUPS! ***

Ask everyone to share with the group anything they feel comfortable sharing:

Where they’re from

Vocation/how they spend their time

Family

How they heard about Mission, how long they've been attending

What has kept them coming back to Mission

What their involvement at Mission has been so far (volunteer? other group? Free Friday Flicks/Night to Remember?)

What they hope to get out of their group experience

>>> LEADER TIP: STAY HERE AWHILE!

This should take the majority of the discussion time this week - probably around 30 minutes! If it doesn't, and you don't end up talking the whole time, feel free to watch the video that previews the homework and next week's discussion and then end early!

>>> LEADER TIP: INTRODUCING THE GROUP STATEMENT

In a new group, it's important to explain why we read the group statement before our discussion. Explain that it's a set of "ground rules" that helps us all ensure that everyone feels safe to share and be "for each other".

Let everyone know that you'll gently correct someone when they "break the rules" - it's not a huge deal or problem, so don't make a big deal about it! Safety is huge deal - make it everyone's responsibility to keep the circle safe for everyone to share, no matter what it is.

If it helps, ask if everything makes sense and have a quick discussion about anything that is unclear!

We are a group of imperfect people pursuing a perfect God. We exist to help each other find and follow Christ. These are some things we want to be true of our group:

We create a safe and honest environment, staying transparent and authentic.

We keep it inside the circle. Confidentiality is necessary for a healthy group.

We look together to the Bible for help and guidance, and keep out our own politics, sales, or agendas.

We do not try to fix each other, preach sermons, or give unsolicited advice. We instead encourage, listen to, and celebrate each other.

We handle conflict between us quickly and honestly by going to the person, owning our part, and practicing forgiveness.

We respect each others’ time by starting and ending when we say we will.

We trust that it is God’s role to change people, not ours.

We believe that in Jesus Christ, there is hope for everyone.

If we really stop to think about it, we are all following something or someone. When Jesus walked this planet He extended this invitation to all kinds of people when He would simply say to them, "follow me." It's the same invitation that He gives to us today... to follow. We are discovering together what following Jesus really looks like and how our lives could change if we would take Him up on His offer.

Jen Oakes talked about the next important question when it comes to following Jesus: where are we going? Jen said that while we don’t get to know the specifics about where God might take us, we do know that it will always be unexpected, uncomplicated, and unimaginable.

>>> LEADER TIP: Getting people to share early

Connect questions are there to help people connect to the content and to each other. They're easy access questions that make it simple for anyone to share and speak up. It can be hard to share for many types of people - so if they open up their mouth early on, it will hopefully make it that much easier to share later on when the questions get more involved and personal!

Try inviting your quieter people to share during the early questions, so they don't feel called out when the discussion gets more personal later on.

CONNECT

Are you a map person? Are you a wanderer or someone that always need to know the destination and how to get there?

DISCOVER

Read Matthew 9:11-13 (NET) together.11 When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 When Jesus heard this he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. 13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

A New Picture of Jesus Does the picture of a Jesus that hangs with "tax collectors and sinners", meaning the outcasts of society, line up with the picture of Jesus that you've grown up with? What's different, or impactful, or important about this picture of Jesus?

APPLY

It's a SurpriseJen said that when we follow Jesus, whereexactly he takes us is a surprise. To you personally, does that sound like uncertainty and stress, or adventure and excitement?

An Interruptible LifeJesus was very interruptible, often diverting from his plan so he could be with the people that needed him. So when we start following Jesus, we have to know that he will definitely interrupt our plans, our priorities, and even our destructive patterns. Even just starting to follow Him begins with some interruption. So how has Jesus interrupted your life to bring you closer to him?

>>> FOLLOW-UP QUESTION:What might Jesus be trying to interrupt in your life right now?

UncomplicatedJen said that a huge part of getting to know God is letting that knowledge of him affect our hearts and and our hands, because it's all about people. Who in your life has made sure that their knowledge of God didn't stop inside their own head, and decided to share it with you?

UnimaginableUnimaginable moments happen in a few different ways: when we are hoping for something and God delivers in a bigger and unexpected way, or when we expect nothing and God surprises us completely. Looking back on your experiences following Jesus or even just investigating faith, have you had any of these experiences with God coming through in a surprising way?

Is Your Life Worth Dying for?In John 10:10, Jesus says "I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. An "unimaginable life" is hard to define, but most of us can tell what DOESN'T line up. So what in your life is worth dying for right now?

>>> FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS:

If there are things in your life that are worth dying for, are you taking advantage of them? Are you leaning in as hard as you should be?

If you feel like there aren't, what is standing in the way of things that are worth dying for?

Be Ready1 Peter 3:15 says "Always be ready to give an answer to every man who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you."

>>> Some Question Options!

To be ready, we have to proactively stay available for interactions with the people that Jesus is trying to reach. Who is right in front of you that you need to reach out to and share your story with? What's standing between you and that person?

To be ready, we DON'T have to have all the answers! What unanswered questions of yours hinder you from sharing with others?

Is anybody asking you about your hope? Where do you need more hope, or what do you need to let God change in you, so your hope would shine through your everyday life?

>>> FOLLOW-UP QUESTION:What clear, next right step do you need to take to be ready to give an answer about the hope that you have?

READ. PRAY. DO.

Check in on how last week's READ / PRAY / DO went. What did everyone learn about themselves or God by reading, praying, or doing?

READ

To get the a fuller picture about Jesus' call to follow Him, we need to go back to the source. Over these 4 weeks, we're reading John's biography of Jesus!

John, chapters 11-15

PRAY

Prayer is an important way that we communicate with God and create space for him to lead us and change our hearts.

Jesus, thank you for letting us be a part of your perfect love. Thank you for coming from perfection to be with us, imperfect as we are. Without you, we have no hope for lives of meaning and significance. But you have given us the dream of lives filled with grace, guidance, and even miracles. Please open my heart so that I am ready to listen to you and follow you where you lead me, no matter where it is and who it includes.

DO

Pick a person that you think God has placed before you to help and influence. Commit to praying for that person every day this week, praying that God would create opportunities for you to serve them, share with them, or just get closer to them.

John 4:4 NET

4 He had to go Samaria on the way

Matthew 9:11-13 NET

learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

John 13:34-35 NET

“I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”

Matthew 11:45-46 TLB

45 Philip now went off to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the Messiah!—the very person Moses and the prophets told about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth!”46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from there?” “Just come and see for yourself,” Philip declared.

John 10:10 MSG

I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

When we choose to Follow Jesus, he is going to take us to places that are...

UNEXPECTED

Henri Nouwen

"A few years ago I met an old professor at the University of Notre Dame. Looking back on his long life of teaching, he said with a funny twinkle in his eyes: 'I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I slowly discovered that my interruptions were my work.'"

When we choose to Follow Jesus, he is going to take us to places that are...

UNCOMPLICATED

Matthew 11:28-30

28 Come to me and I will give you rest—all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke. Wear my yoke—for it fits perfectly—and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you shall find rest for your souls; for I give you only light burdens.”

1 Peter 3:15 MEV

“Always be ready to give an answer to every man who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you…”